A network such as a wireless local area network can comprise one or more access points (AP) to provide a means for one or more user devices to communicate with and/or over the network. An access point can comprise a device that allows wireless user devices to connect to a wired network using Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or related standards.
Often, a Media Access Control address (MAC address) is assigned to network interfaces, such as AP's, to facilitate addressable communications on a physical network segment. MAC addresses can be used for numerous network technologies, including most IEEE 802 network technologies, including Ethernet. Logically, MAC addresses can be used in the media access control protocol sub-layer of the open systems interconnection (OSI) reference model.
Currently, when a user device initially connects to a particular first AP of a network, the MAC address for the AP that the user device is connecting through is detected. The detected MAC address can be transmitted to a gateway of the network for addressing and referencing the user device on the network. However, when the user device roams to a second AP on the same network, the MAC address information of the second AP may not be detected or updated. Accordingly, improvements are needed for monitoring and locating devices connected or trying to connect to the network.